Putin explains Easter ceasefire and says why Russia struck Sumy University

Kyiv was “advised” that rejecting a ceasefire would be a “losing position,” which is why Ukraine agreed to it, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

“The proposal for an Easter ceasefire was initially seen by the Ukrainian side as ‘playing with fate,’ but someone smarter—likely foreign supervisors—advised them not to reject such peace initiatives,” Putin stated during a municipal forum held at the Rossiya (Russia) National Center.

He announced the ceasefire from 6:00 p.m. on April 19 to midnight on April 21, saying he expected “the Ukrainian side to follow our example.” However, Putin also instructed the Russian forces to be ready to repel any violations by Ukrainian troops.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv would act “symmetrically” during the truce and proposed extending the ceasefire for 30 days “if silence truly takes hold.”

Putin explains missile strike on Sumy

Separately, Putin stated that a missile strike on a congress center in Sumy was carried out because Ukrainian soldiers who had committed crimes in Russia’s Kursk region were being honored there.

“When it comes to proposals not to strike civilian infrastructure, we need to examine what that really means,” he said. “For example, the strike on the congress center, I believe, of Sumy University—was that a civilian object? Yes. But it was hosting an award ceremony for individuals who committed crimes in the Kursk region, including AFU personnel and nationalists. We consider these individuals criminals who deserved retribution.”

The strike on Sumy took place on April 13. According to Ukrainian sources, 35 people were killed, including two children, and nearly 130 were injured, with at least 15 of them children. Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed over 60 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the attack.

According to Putin, the strike was aimed at a meeting of the command staff of Ukraine’s “Seversk” operational-tactical group and involved the use of two Iskander-M tactical missiles. He stated that the Ukrainian “criminals” received “just retribution.”